NCH Set To Approve Second Strategic Health Development Plan
The 61st National Council on Health (NCH) meeting taking place in kano has approved a five year second National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP II) 2018-2022.
The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, who is the chairman of the council made this known while speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the 61st National Council on Health Meeting, held on Thursday 21st, 2018.
The Theme of this year’s meeting is “The Second National Strategic Health Development Plan: Road Map for Achieving Universal Health Coverage.
The Sub Themes are: Better Health for All, Through realization of Primary Health Care Service Delivery”; “ Human Resources for Health a panacea to Overall Health Care Delivery System of the Nation”; “Public Health Emergencies: Preparedness and Response”; as well as Predictable Financing and Risk Protection for Health”
In his speech, the Minister said the NSHDP 11 was developed due to the expiration of the first National Strategic Health Strategic Development Plan. He said the first five-year National Strategic Health Development Plan was launched in 2010, expired in 2015, 58th NCH Sokoto approved it extension pending the finalization of the second National Strategic Health Development Plan.
“It is important to point out that while the first Plan addressed only the Health System building blocks under eight priority areas of the 2004 National Health Policy, the second plan takes a more comprehensive, inclusive and holistic approach to address all the important activities of the health sector”, Adewole said.
He said that the second plan was developed along five strategic pillars that focused on priorities that should: (i) provide the enabling environment for the attainment of sector outcomes, (ii) increase the utilization of Essential Package of Health Care Services, (iii) strengthen the Health System for the delivery of Package of Essential Health Care Services, (iv) protect health emergencies and risks as well as (v) increase Sustainable, Predictable Financing and Risk Protection.
Adewole further explained that the second plan was anchored on the New National Health Policy (2016) which had been developed taking into consideration Nigeria’s aspiration to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all Nigerians and leveraging on the policy to revitalize 10,000
PHCs across the country.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire discribed the NSHDP II as a matured document ready for use.
“This plan would serve as our vehicle towards the attainment of the Universal Health Coverage as the plan has been fully aligned with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) put in place by the Federal Government”.
He informed that the determination of the Federal government to strengthen health system through the PHC revitalization initiative had already started yielding positive results.
According to him, a total of 95 of the 110 earmarked Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities under the Rapid Response initiatives and PHC Revitalization Programme had been revitalized. These, he said was in addition to about 4,000 PHCs revitalized by both states and Development Partners as part of their support to the initiative.
Declaring the event open, the Executive Governor, Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Said that it was the strategy of Mr. President to improve the lives of people in the rural areas as well as the health and wellbeing of the general populace.
In line with this, Kano State Government had commissioned two ultra-modern hospital amongst other Health facilities in December 2017 . He said these facilities were envisaged to reduce medical tourism and its attendant human capital flight.
The WHO Country Representative, Dr. Wondi Alemu, represented by Mr. Omotayo Hamzat assured government of her continued support towards improving the health indices of the country.
